Corporate Complaints Privacy Notice
The Complaints Department at New Forest District Council is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. For the purpose of the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Controller is New Forest District Council, Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43 7PA (data.controller@nfdc.gov.uk).
The Council operates a complaints service to allow individuals the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with any Council operated service.
When you contact the Complaints Department we will ask you for certain personal information in order to be able to assist with your enquiry. Some of this information will need to be recorded and stored on our systems. This Privacy Notice aims to explain:
The different kinds of personal data we process
How we use your data
How we store your data
Why we process your data
When and why we share your information
What are the legal grounds for processing your information
1. What kind of personal data do we process
When you contact the Complaints Department we will collect certain personal information from you in order for us to process your complaint, for example: your name and relevant contact details which may include your address, email address or telephone number. This is to ensure that we are able to respond to the complaint. If you choose not to supply your name and contact details it may not be possible to investigate or respond to your complaint. We are unable to process anonymous complaints as set out in our Corporate Complaints Procedure.
2. How we use your data
The information is used to enable us to contact you, either to request further information about your complaint or to send you a response.
3. How we store your data
The information we collect is recorded and then stored on our secure Complaints system. We retain a log detailing your complaint and any correspondence. This information is retained for 6 years, in line with our retention policy.
4. Why we process your data
We need to process your data in order to deal with your complaint.
5. When and why we share your information
In order to process your complaint we will need to share your information with other services within the Council which your complaint relates to.
After you have exhausted the Council's internal Corporate Complaints Procedure you may choose to escalate your complaint to the relevant ombudsman. Should you choose to do this, we may share your information externally with The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or The Housing Ombudsman, as applicable, if they request information from us when looking at your complaint.
6. What are the legal grounds for processing your information
With your consent;
Where there is a public interest to do so or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Council;
In order to comply with a legal obligation;
Where it is in the legitimate interest of the Council to do so;
With your explicit consent or where there is a substantial public interest for special categories data.
Where we rely on your consent and you wish to withdraw this consent, you can do so by contacting us at the address above or at complaints@nfdc.gov.uk.
More Information
If you have any questions about this privacy notice or your privacy in general please email complaints@nfdc.gov.uk or telephone 023 8028 5588. Alternatively you can write to: Information Compliance and Complaints Officer, Legal Services, Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, Southampton, Hampshire, SO43 7PA.
You can contact the Council's Data Protection Officer on data.protection@nfdc.gov.uk.
For further information, plus information on access, portability, withdrawal of consent, correction etc. please see:
Information Rights Policy (PDF) [237KB]
For more information on Data Protection in general, or if you wish to make a complaint relating to how your personal data has been used, please contact the Information Commissioner's Office:
Website: https://ico.org.uk/
Phone helpline: 0303 123 1113
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